The main challenge facing young wrestlers in Kazakhstan has been identified.

The Kazakhstan championship among youth (U17) and juniors (U20) in Greco-Roman, freestyle, and women's wrestling has kicked off in Almaty. Over the course of a week, 400 top wrestlers from across the country will determine the strongest competitors. A correspondent from Caravan.kz attended the tournament's opening and learned how the public's love for wrestling is planned to be converted into Olympic medals.

A total of 10 weight categories will be contested in each age group at the championship. Following the national championship, teams will be formed by age to compete in the Asian and World Championships for athletes aged 15-17 and 18-20 from all over Kazakhstan.

Rasul Kaliev, a silver medalist from the 2014 Asian Games and currently responsible for freestyle wrestling at the Federation of Greco-Roman, freestyle, and women's wrestling in Almaty, shared with us that this year's national championship is being held in a new format, and the competition level is very high. The hosts of the event, the Almaty team, are hopeful for overall team success.

“Almaty is represented by 30 athletes in each age group for freestyle wrestling at the Kazakhstan championship, which means we have one and a half teams. This style of wrestling is very popular in the megacity, and the number of participants is quite impressive, leading to very high competition. We cannot fit within the limit of 20 participants (one wrestler in each weight category for each age group),” Kaliev stated.

The head of the Federation of Greco-Roman, freestyle, and women's wrestling in Almaty, Omar Aliev, noted that this championship may introduce new names to the spotlight. Rizabek Aitmukhan is widely recognized, but he is not the only bright young wrestler on the list.

“Championships like the one taking place in Almaty provide an opportunity for new names from across the country to shine. For instance, Bakdaulet Akimzhan has reached a high level, having become a medalist at the World Championship last year. There are also wrestlers in Greco-Roman wrestling who won awards at international competitions last year; we didn’t let them go and took them for training camps in Russia — Dagestan and Saransk, where they spent about 70-80 days. In the new year, we will test them in the older age category — U-23,” Omar Aliev said.

In his year in office, Aliev has introduced important innovations in the training of Almaty wrestlers. In addition to training camps abroad, the tradition of allowing young wrestlers to receive master classes from national team leaders on designated days has been revived, allowing them to spar and for coaches to exchange experiences.

“Now we will adjust this tradition to give the guys a chance to practice specific techniques, such as in par terre, with well-known wrestlers. Young athletes often know how to perform maneuvers, but if a move doesn’t work out, they don’t know what to do next. Such training sessions with stars will provide young wrestlers with invaluable experience and skills,” Omar Aliev explained.

It should be noted that there are currently over 1,000 participants in freestyle wrestling in Almaty, around 300 in Greco-Roman wrestling, and about 80-90 in women's wrestling.

“In freestyle wrestling, our training is going very well, with many sections where children train from the age of 8. Each sports school has fierce competition, which is beneficial as new generations of strong young wrestlers are emerging who are already making a name for themselves on the world stage. In terms of Greco-Roman wrestling, there is a general decline in participation globally. When we went to the World Championship in Tirana in 2024, there were also fewer participants than in freestyle. Thus, our situation mirrors the global trend. As for women's wrestling, we are developing plans to increase participation in this discipline in Almaty, which will require significant effort,” Omar Aliev stated.

Experts believe that the level of U17 and U20 championships is rising each year, which is a result of increasing popularity and attention to wrestling in the regions. And competition, as is well known, leads to victories first at the youth level and later at the adult level. The example of 20-year-old Rizabek Aitmukhan, who is already a world champion in three age categories and is preparing to compete against an Olympic champion, is just the beginning.